


Identified

by Legume_Shadow



Series: Whispers (Prequels to the Echoes Series) [12]
Category: Peacemaker Kurogane, Rurouni Kenshin
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-22
Updated: 2015-02-22
Packaged: 2018-03-14 15:59:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3416759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Legume_Shadow/pseuds/Legume_Shadow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Elusive and deadly, Kenshin's reputation as an assassin grows until his nickname, Hitokiri Battousai, is prominently whispered in fear all around Kyoto.  It is armed with this information and more that Susumu returns to finally make his report to the leaders of the Roshigumi, and discovers that loyalties are not what they seem among the group.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Identified

**Author's Note:**

> First Publishing: AO3, February 2015. All copyrights apply to the appropriate parties and no profit is being made from this fanwork.

**Part 11: Identified**

_August 1863_

 

The Obon matsuri was upon the city, as were the flocks of tourists, despite the escalating violence that was taking place not only during the night time, but also during daylight. Fear saturated the atmosphere and while most of the populace tried to go about their daily lives, it was the presence of several patrol groups that caused the people to shy away and keep to themselves. They hoped that whatever they did in their daily activities would not attract unwanted attention from any of the patrol groups.

The two patrol groups foremost of the ones that were Shogunate-sponsored were the Mimiwarigumi and the Roshigumi. Matching overcoats and uniforms had been distributed to the Mimiwarigumi, giving them a distinctive style and look that clearly identified them as protectorates of Kyoto. The clean, neat appearances of the upper samurai class who joined the Mimiwarigumi and patrolled the areas around the Imperial palace and Nijo Castle gave confidence to those living in those areas that they were dependable in their duty.

Unfortunately, the same could still not be said of those associated with the Roshigumi. Their actions, stemming mainly from violent incidents sometimes instigated by Serizawa and a few others, but sometimes resolved by them in uncouth methods, were starting to become a stain on the honor of the Aizu clan who had vouched for them. There were rumors that uniforms similar to the Mimiwarigumi had been ordered for them, but they were only that – rumors.

Their patrol area was in the commoner and shops area, one of the busiest areas and even with the amount of people they had, there were not enough people to cover such a large area. More than three-quarters of their group had left to return to Edo or Aizu in the months following their arrival – most of them leaving due to differences of opinion with the way Serizawa ran the group. Very few joined up with them, and it seemed that only the majority of Serizawa's and Kondou's groups stayed. Tonouchi had left only a month ago, with the lord of Aizu's blessings to return to Edo.

Susumu sighed to himself as he glanced down below from his rooftop perch to see his fellow Roshigumi members running through crowded streets, and unfortunately, they had to push patrons out of the way to get to their target. He knew that he could join them in the pursuit of a criminal, who was probably somewhere down near the Kamogawa canal, but his own skills would be of little aid to the patrolmen. Besides, he had his own report to deposit to Hijikata, and it was more vital than aiding the patrolmen.

With his brief pause and break over, he resume running across the rooftops, with the lanterns strung from gutter to gutter lighting the way home. The moon was also shining quite brightly in the skies, but he kept to the shadows as best as possible. At least it was not a firework night.

Lanterns became more sparse as he approached the outskirts of the city that gave way to farmland and soon, he tumbled to the ground, grabbing a summer yukata and a rice-picker's hat that was leaning against the outer wall of a dilapidated house. It was the usual outfit that he had stashed in various places throughout the city – a simple disguise that could easily be slipped into no matter the circumstances.

Within a matter of seconds, he was back out, strolling through the farmlands with the rice-picker's hat over his head and yukata snug against his shinobi outfit. It was a bit overheating, considering the humidity that saturated Kyoto during the summer nights, but at this early of an hour in the night, his running through farmlands would catch any person's attention. Mibu village was small, but ample enough in land coverage that the main temple was the centerpoint. A few festive lanterns decorated the outside of temple, and he turned down the street towards the compound where the Roshigumi were staying.

Guards were out front and he removed his rice-picker hat just as they spotted him and elevated their lanterns to get a good look at him. There was always a moment during times like this that Susumu wondered if ever the guards did not recognize him – would they pursue him or leave him alone? Surely the shinobi head covering gave it away that he was not ronin... but fortunately, each time he had to do this inspection, he always passed muster.

Entering without hindrance, he made his way towards Hijikata's quarters, ditching the hat and the yukata. However, as he approached, he noticed it was dark. He had not seen Hijikata among the small patrol group racing down to the canal area to quell an incident. Strange as it was, he knew that Hijikata was not one to go visit Shimabara without a purpose, and did not have patrol slated until later tonight.

“If you are looking for Hijikata, he is currently in a meeting with Serizawa and the others,” he heard Nagakura say as he turned around to see Saitou and Nagakura approach. He would have thought Nagakura would be out and about with his friends, Toudou and Harada, pursuing whatever had drawn their attention at the Kamogawa canal.

“Perfect,” he curtly said, nodding, “I need to report to all of them anyways. I assume that Serizawa's quarters are where they're meeting?”

“Actually, Kondou's but I wouldn't approach them right now if I were you,” the short man answered, adopting a wincing look. “They're...all kind of yelling at each other right now.”

Susumu mentally sighed in exasperation, even though he wanted to physically roll his eyes at the childishness of their leaders having a shouting match over the smallest of disagreements. He was, however, surprised to see the faintest of a weary look appear on Nagakura's face, while Saitou's expression remained neutral. The two swordsmen were not the only ones; they were all getting tired, even if they tried not to show it, of the dissonance and near-daily arguments their leaders were having on the direction that the Roshigumi was going. Those arguments were occasionally remitted by parties put forth either by Serizawa or Kondou to try to mend things, only to degenerate days later back to almost no cooperation between the groups.

The wait for him was not long as only a few minutes passed of him and the other idly standing around in semi-awkward silence before Niimi, Serizawa's right-hand man, came storming through the area. He was swiftly followed by Serizawa himself. Both men had dark looks upon their faces and were seemingly unapproachable as they ignored the small gathered group.

There was an audible sigh from Nagakura as he said, “I'll go talk to Niimi, see if I can convince him of whatever Kondou-san and the others want. Whatever they discussed in that meeting, it looks like Niimi is having none of it. You going to talk to Serizawa, Saitou?”

Oddly enough, Susumu heard Saitou snort in derision before saying, “Not while the man is in _that_ foul of a mood.”

Nagakura shrugged and left, while Susumu merely turned, giving a respectful nod towards Saitou before heading to Kondou's quarters. He knew that his report would eventually reach the ears of the other two leaders, but perhaps now was an opportune time for him to report on other matters. He was well aware that Saitou had been the one who had been tasked to spy on Okita and the young man's whereabouts, having spotted Saitou discreetly following Okita a few days ago. As per Hijikata's instructions though, he had not lingered to see what Saitou would uncover that day, and instead, went about his usual business.

Today though, was a different matter for Saitou – Okita had come down with a cold and had been resting all day in his room. Susumu knew that Saitou had not been released from his tracking duties, not wanting to arouse suspicions from others and go out on patrol with a group. He did not know what had occupied the swordsman's seemingly random day off, but he was sure it was not an actual day off for Saitou. He did wonder what Saitou had found out about Serizawa though, for he was curious.

There was also the matter of what he had heard a few months ago that still nagged at him, and even though Hijikata had told him to not concern himself with Serizawa, he could not help himself. Choshuu had openly defied the Shogun in favor of the Emperor's command and they had paid the price in foreign retaliation. Satsuma, who had done nothing wrong, had also paid the price, especially in Nagasaki, the main port where foreign trade flowed through. Now the two clans were feuding, with the Shogun unable to do much about stopping either one, for both clans had enormous military strength – Kyoto was where clansmen from both regions clashed.

Added to the unrest was the Tosa clan, who, despite their own people ordering all forces to return to their homeland, after their failed petition to the Emperor concerning _sonno joi_ , still had rogue clansmen running around. A few of them were at the Naval Training Academy in Kobe Village, protected by the sheer luck of the one who ran the academy being a favored adviser of the Shogun. Another of the rogue clansmen still loose in Kyoto was the infamous Tosa hitokiri, Okada Izou – no one had captured him yet.

There were also rumors that the Mito clan, where Serizawa was originally from before he ingratiated himself to the lord of Aizu and moved those lands, was going to join the forces proclaiming _sonno joi_. People treated it only as a rumor, for information coming in and out of Mito was sparse and most of it supported the fact that only certain persons from Mito were declaring _sonno joi_. However, it was because of what Susumu had heard all those months ago that he put a lot of stock in a rumor that was laughable by others.

Serizawa had spoken of not handing over control of the Roshigumi to the current batch of political players in Kyoto – did he mean to hand them over to the Mito clan?

“I have news, Kondou- _fukuchou_ , Hijikata- _fukuchou_ , and Yamanami _-fukuchou_ , _”_ he stated, shaking his head slightly to clear his speculative thoughts as he knelt on the walkway in front of the closed partition to Kondou's room.

“Enter,” Kondou answered and he quietly and quickly slipped in, shutting the door behind.

“Sirs,” he began, bowing his head slightly before raising it. “I have not discovered the entire identity of the new assassin in Kyoto, nor of his sword style, but I do have a nickname and the clan that he is from. The new assassin is from the Choshuu clan and because of the way he kills, he is known as the Hitokiri Battousai.”

“Dangerous,” Yamanami murmured, briefly tapping his abacus against the floor. “How many people has this man killed so far?”

“We've confirmed at least six people who have been killed in similar manner – a single draw or stroke, targeting the exact areas where there is a near guarantee of fatality. Only one of the six was killed in two strikes, one through the front, near the gut and another on the back, severing the victim's spine,” Hijikata said, tapping his chin for a moment. There was no pipe in the man's hand for it was well known throughout the Roshigumi that Kondou was not fond of Hijikata smoking up his room, and thus Hijikata had not brought his pipe with him for the meeting.

“The swordsman has to be incredibly fast and powerful to even do such a thing like that,” Yamanami said, frowning. “I don't think I even know of a sword style that can combine the two without breaking a man into pieces after a few years of wielding it.”

“We have a name and clan,” Kondou said, nodding slightly. “Good work Yamazaki. We can do much with this.”

“We still need a name and description of the assassin,” Hijikata said. “Keep looking for information.”

“Yes, sir,” Susumu answered, bowing slightly. As soon as he lifted his head though, he did not immediately leave and instead, said in a quiet tone, “Sir, I also wanted to report on some information about Serizawa that I found a few months ago that may pertain to current rumors about certain clans.”

“Speak,” Hijikata said after a moment of glancing over at both Kondou and Yamanami, before all three of them leaned in a little closer.

“I over heard him discussing the fate of the Roshigumi with at least three other people including a woman that I could not identify. He specifically stated that when the time was right, he would turn control over of the group not to the current forces in Kyoto, but to another group. Back then, I did not find what group it was, for he did not mention them by name, but with current rumors that most have dismissed, I suspect that this other group may be the Mito clan.”

“That is very concerning,” Yamanami spoke up, keeping his voice low, with a clear frown on his face as he pushed his glasses slightly up his nose. “With Satsuma and Choshuu in disagreement, and Choshuu no longer in the favor of the Emperor, Tosa withdrawing, things are ripe for Mito to step in. However, I thought that Mito was against this _sonno joi_ that the rebels are proclaiming.”

“Certain people are against, certain people are for,” Hijikata said, folding his hands together, eyebrows knitted in concern.

“Keisuke,” Kondou said, “Please go get Saitou-kun and stay around the area.”

Without a word, Yamanami left and Susumu sat back, watching his commanders' expressions grow dark. Yamanami would not be rejoining the conversation, but would act as a watch, even though Susumu was sure that his own senses, honed by years of shinobi training, would be more than adequate to ensure that they were not being over heard. Still, he did not argue with his commanders' decisions, only obeyed them, for they knew what was best.

A couple of minutes later, the familiar presence of Saitou was felt and instead of the front partition that faced the walkway and in towards the rest of the compound, a side partition, connecting rooms was opened. Saitou quietly shuffled in, closing the partition with barely a whisper. Joining them in the semi-circle, Susumu saw his glittering dark eyes look around before he settled down and sat on the tatami mat floors in a cross-legged fashion.

Instead of immediately speaking, Susumu saw him pull out a small map and laid it in front of all of them. “These are the areas that Serizawa has ordered assassinations carried out,” Saitou began pointing to various areas that seemed so random for they were not only at shops that were popular with the locals and tourists, but also near Nijo Castle, Gion district, Shimbashi district, even near Fushimi-Inari Taisha. There was absolutely no pattern or method of madness to where Serizawa had sent Okita out on assassination assignments.

“These are also the areas where the man himself and his people have caused several instances of unrest, including that incident with the Sumo wrestlers,” Saitou continued. In each incident, there was at least one or more witnesses to the incident assassinated at the other areas.”

“That doesn't make sense,” Hijikata said, putting a hand to his chin as he rubbed in puzzlement. Susumu also found himself frowning in concern; indeed it did not make sense – survivors of all of the incidents that Serizawa and his group instigated had spread of the Roshigumi's reputation – why would Serizawa then assassinate survivors if he was intent on ruining the reputation of the group as peacekeepers?

“None of the victims had anything of value nor where they of any significance in social status,” Saitou said before sitting back.

“What of the people living in those areas?”

“Merchants, locals mostly,” Saitou answered. “A few tourists staying at the inns, now moved elsewhere--”

“Empty and potentially ready for clansmen from the southern regions to populate.”

Susumu was not the only person to freeze in the room, for all of the others had halted their movements as they all glanced towards the back of Kondou's room to see the partition slide a bit to the side. Light from the lantern in the room washed into the back, and revealed the tired, pallid-looking face of Okita, who was leaning against the divider. It was he who had spoken those words.

“Souji,” Hijikata said after a moment, getting up from where he had been sitting, “You shouldn't be up. Go back to sleep and get some more rest.”

Susumu's mind was racing; he had not felt the young swordsman's presence at all when he had entered the room, conversed with Kondou, Hijikata, Yamanami, and waited for Saitou to arrive. He was supposed to be shinobi, able to detect any intrusion or ill intent from people – he had failed in his duty.

“It is what Serizawa-san is aiming for,” Okita stated before Hijikata could try to usher the ill man back out. Moving a little further into the room, he continued, saying, “He supports the _sonno joi_ movement, and with the Emperor and Shogun both pausing in their declarations, he has intentions to bring in more supporters towards that movement.”

Susumu's eyes widened in surprise as Okita suddenly sat upright in seiza and bowed towards towards Kondou and the others. “I apologize for what has been happening for the past few months. It was the only way that I could think of to bring you as much information as possible on Serizawa Kamo.” It was no wonder he did not sense Okita's presence – the man had absolutely no ill intent towards anyone here and had been most likely listening in from the start.

“Souji, that's enough,” Hijikata said, just as Okita rose from his bow.

Susumu could hear a definite strain in Hijikata's tone, and could clearly see him clench his jaw in anger. However, it was Kondou who interrupted, saying, “You need to rest, Souji. You are still not recovered. You've done well and we thank you for the information.”

Okita shook his head slightly as he said, “Yamazaki-san is correct in his assessment about Mito. Serizawa-san is not entirely loyal to Aizu, even though he has political connections with the lord. Mito is still his home, and I have heard him on more than one occasion speak of visiting the province and seeing if he could recruit more people from there to join the Roshigumi. I believe that he intends to bring the group over to the rebels' side.”

“Aizu does not know of this, correct?” Saitou asked, narrowing his eyes slightly as both Kondou and Hijikata gave up on trying to convince the ill young man to return to his room for rest.

“They do not,” Okita answered, “At least not yet.” Susumu noticed him focusing his eyes on him as he heard the swordsman ask, “Yamazaki-san, where and when did you hear Serizawa and the others discussing their plans?”

“The same day that the first two victims of the new assassin were discovered,” he answered. “As for where he met with his compatriots, it was most likely at the flower house where the woman he sleeps with, Oume, is from. The woman who was discussing plans with them is also most likely living in the flower house too – he asked her to summon Oume to him once their meeting was concluded.”

“I know of that place,” he heard Okita quietly say with a bit of sadness in the tone of his voice, after a few moments of silence. “He used to frequent there until the matron of the house tried to bar him from entering, due to circumstances relating to other patrons who did not agree with his views. Oume visits him not only here but also at a small villa that he rents on occasion.”

“How often does Serizawa visit the villa and where is it located?” Kondou asked.

“Twice a week. It is located near Shimabara.”

Silence fell upon those gathered in the room before Hijikata spoke up, asking, “Were there any suspicious persons of note in that flower house, Saitou?”

“None that would draw any unusual attention,” Saitou answered, shaking his head slightly.

“I will try to petition Matsudaira-sama for an audience without Serizawa knowing,” Kondou suddenly declared. “Whatever his intentions may be, our sponsor must know about what we've uncovered. I need the rest of you to remain and act as you have always done in his presence.” Susumu saw him breathe out a heavy sigh before continuing to say, “Souji, while your actions may have had the correct intent, in the future, please do not undertake such a task without informing either myself, Toshi, or Keisuke before hand.”

Okita nodded quite sagely at the former dojo master's words, saying, “I understand and will do so. Please accept my apologies for the mistrust that I have caused.”

“Apology accepted,” Kondou said, before focusing his attention on Saitou, saying, “You're released from your previous duties, Saitou-kun, but we also need to deal with this new assassin threat from the Choshuu clan. We do not have anything else other than the nickname given to the new assassin, Hitokiri Battousai. Find out anything that you can about this new assassin. For now, we will tell Serizawa and his people about the assassin, so you may have some help from others in this task.”

Saitou merely nodded before Kondou finally turned to him, Susumu, and said, “Yamazaki, good work on all that you've uncovered so far. When we need to meet again about Serizawa, we will need some place more secure than headquarters. Scout out and find a place, even if it is outside of our normal patrol range, so that we can meet undisturbed.”

“Yes, sir.”

Finally, Kondou glanced over at Hijikata and gave a slight sideways nod of his head. “You, me, and Keisuke will need to begin recruiting more people to join our side. If Matsudaira-sama will not heed our secret petition or if word gets back to Serizawa, we will need to be ready to cleanly break away from him and form our own group.” Susumu felt himself involuntarily swallow in slight fear as Kondou pinned all of those sitting in the room with a harsh look – harsher than he had even seen Hijikata's angry glares. “We cannot let Serizawa bring the majority of the Roshigumi under rebel control,” Kondou stated, as if daring anyone to argue with him.

No one did.

* * *

“Out of the way!”

Kenshin stepped to the side, as the crowded streets full of festival goers scattered as fast as they could to either side. There was at least a few people in front of Kenshin who did not react fast enough and were shoved to the ground as several men, including one wielding a spear plowed through. Given the appearance of the group and how closely they worked together, despite not even having official uniforms, he had no doubt that they were Roshigumi members.

This area, after all, near the Kamogawa canal, was within their patrol territory, and it wasn't surprising to see them react as so. He could see the prey the Wolves of Mibu were pursing, dash across the bridge that would bring the nimble man into Gion. When the commotion had first started, he had only caught a glimpse of the man the Roshigumi were pursing and to his surprise, it was the young Tosa man he had briefly bumped into a few months earlier.

He had thought Okada Izou had returned with the others of the clan to Tosa in their withdrawal from the city earlier in the summer, but apparently it was not so. It had also been then that he learned that Okada was also a hitokiri like him. A small sliver of his mind had wanted to help Okada escape from his pursuers, but Katsura's warning and his own sense of self-preservation had ruthlessly quashed that feeling into dust. He did not need to tangle with the Roshigumi right now, not when there were so many witnesses around.

With impassive eyes, he saw the Roshigumi patrolmen tear down the street. At the rate that they were gaining upon Okada, he knew that the young Tosa hitokiri would be captured soon. He vowed to never let something like that happen to him, and with his skills, he knew that none except for perhaps one or two of the Roshigumi members would be able to match him.

As the crowds closed up the divide that the Roshigumi left in their wake, murmuring to themselves in disgust and in concern at just how the patrolmen had behaved towards them, he turned and resumed his slow walk around the area. A few trinkets caught his eyes and he paused before a vendor, picking up a bright-looking trinket and casually examined it. His assigned target was not to be killed until later tonight, and was in this general area, but since this was Roshigumi territory, he needed to be careful. It was the same as his first assassination assignment which had taken him deep into the southern area of the wolves' territory.

His thoughts echoed again from a few months earlier as he grimly smiled to himself. Wolves of Mibu was a most apt nickname for the Roshigumi, for not only were they ruthless in their pursuance of criminals, they roamed their area like a rabid, tight-knit pack. Out of the six assassinations that he had performed so far, four of them had been within or on the edge of the patrol area of the Roshigumi. The other two assignments had been undertaken near Fushimi. Katsura had not assigned him any targets near Nijo Castle or the Imperial palace, citing that it was not yet time.

He did not care for the politics behind the assassinations that he had been given, only ensuring that his task was completed with minimal strikes to ensure that a deep seated fear was sent to any who discovered his handiwork. Each person killed had had the declaration of 'Tenchuu' left upon the body – left either by him or by Iizuka. Heaven's judgment was reserved for the ones who committed crimes in their harassment of civilians; he wanted to strike out at the Roshigumi for their many grievous actions against the populace, but he stayed his blade. One day, their judgment would come.

Now however, it was time to move along, and he placed the trinket back down, calmly heading deeper into the wolves' hunting grounds.

 

~*~*~*~

 


End file.
